Former patient creates mural to offer hope (video)

As a former Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital patient, Catalina Bellizzi-Itiola, a local San Diego artist, says she can truly empathize with folks with mental health conditions. She wanted to provide hope and encouragement to current patients at the hospital through her art. So along with volunteers, Catalina created a mural at the Shiley Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Sharp team members and executives have expressed their gratitude for Catalina’s artwork and the generosity of Anna Haudenschild Meier, also a former Sharp Mesa Vista patient, who donated to fund the creation of the mural. People being treated at the hospital will be able to enjoy the mural at the ICU, which was recently modernized to provide extraordinary care to the roughly 1,000 individuals with significant mental health conditions treated at Sharp Mesa Vista each year.

The ICU modernization is a part of the ENVISION campaign, which aims to provide outstanding health care — including much needed mental health care — to current and future individuals being treated at Sharp. The Shiley Foundation and David C. Copley Foundation gifted grants, and the hospital system’s employees and others donated to ENVISION in support of these efforts.

Watch the video above to see how Catalina created her mural.

Learn more about mental health services at Sharp Mesa Vista.

For the news media: To speak with Catalina about this story, contact Erica Carlson, senior public relations specialist at erica.carlson@sharp.com.